


Fragments

by s_h_ananana



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Romance, attempted plot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-12-30
Updated: 2014-12-31
Packaged: 2018-03-04 10:44:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3064880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/s_h_ananana/pseuds/s_h_ananana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after the events of Season 2, Episode 10. Fitz leaves Coulson's team, but two years later he and Jemma are paired together in an undercover mission to infiltrate the HYDRA Academy, forcing them to face their broken past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bus, Part 1

“You have to tell him.” Jemma halts at Skye’s words, allowing the others to stream past her on their way out of the briefing room. When the last agent exits the room, she speaks.

“Skye, I…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Seriously, Simmons? That entire briefing was about Fitz’s transfer and you’re going to pretend that you don’t even care?”

“I’m not –”

“Look, I get that things have been awkward since Fitz told you that he loved you, but you have to tell him how you feel! You know he’s leaving because he thinks that’s what you want.”

“I don’t know what I want.”

“You don’t want him to leave.”

“Well, obviously I don’t want him to leave! But in the… the pod, when Fitz saved my life, he was putting me first. Now it’s my turn to do what’s best for him.”

“Is that why you left us for months to work undercover at HYDRA?”

“I just wanted to give him some space, you know? To heal.”

“He needed you, Simmons. He’s lost without you.”

“Don’t be –”

_~~_

“– ridiculous, Mack, I will be per-perfectly fine at Sci-Ops.” Fitz turns his back to Mack and continues to fold his jumpers into the suitcase on his bunk.

“Fitz, I’m not saying you won’t be. I just think you belong here, with us, with Simmons.”

“Jemma is better off without me. All I do is hold her back. Ever since the…the…um…” Fitz closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose, trying to find the word.

“The Academy?” Mack attempts to supply Fitz with an answer.

“No. The…er…”

“Take your time. You’ve got it.”

“The…the… _pod_ , ever since the pod, when I told… told Jemma how I felt and I let her take the, the… _air mask_ …I’ve been useless.”

“Fitz, it’s not your fault that your brain was damaged in that pod. And you’re getting better every day.”

“It doesn’t matter, I can’t be here any-anymore. I can’t be around her anymore.”

“I just think you two make a good team, two of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best scientists. You’re –”

_~~_

“– FitzSimmons for god’s sake!” Skye looks at Jemma, exasperated.

“I don’t know what we are anymore.”

“Talk to him. Please.”

“I don’t think he wants to talk to me. He –”

_~~_

“– can’t even look at me when we’re in the same room. Jemma will be gl-glad when I’m gone.” Fitz spit out bitterly.

“Look, man, you need to talk to her.”

“I told her everything in that pod. She doesn’t fee-feel the same way. It’s that simple.”

“You guys just –”

_~~_

“– need to talk.”

_~~_

“Fine!”

_~~_

Jemma slams the briefing room door behind her and looks up to find herself face to face with Fitz, who has just done the same to the door leading to his quarters.

“Fitz! What a surprise!”

“H-hello, Jemma.”

The two look at each other in awkward silence.

 “Fitz, I think we need to –”Jemma cuts off as she realizes that Fitz has at same time said, “About what I said in the –”

“I’m sorry, you go.” Jemma looks at Fitz expectantly.

“No, no, it wasn’t... wasn’t important.”

“Oh. Well, um, I wanted to talk to you about what you said to me, in the pod.” Jemma waits for Fitz to respond. When he doesn’t, she tries a different approach. “Do you remember, back at the Academy, when we found out that we were both being sent to Sci-Ops?”

“Jem –”

“You went to the boiler room and nicked that –”

“– bottle of champagne, yeah.

“Yes. And then we snuck up to the roof of the lab. We could see the entire city up there. We watched the stoplights turn from green to yellow to red as the cars moved through them like blood cells through veins. The planes would take off, one by one, floating lazily in the sky, while I swear I could hear the steps of pedestrians hurrying along the pavement. Everything had a purpose, everyone had somewhere to be –”

“– and we were a part of that. We were going to change the world.”

“You made me a promise, up there on that rooftop. You told me –”

“– we would stick together, always.”

“I was sitting with my legs over your lap. Back then, I could never tell where I ended and you began, but you must have felt my pulse speed up when you said those words. I thought you were going to kiss me. But then the moment passed, and you began to talk about your designs for some prototype that was giving you trouble.”

“You never told me that!”

“What was I supposed to say? All those years, in the Academy and at Sci-Ops, you never once showed a romantic interest in me. We’ve always been a team, nothing more. I buried my feelings for you ages ago. So when you told me what I meant to you, down in the pod, you took me completely by surprise. You’ve always been my best friend.”

“It’s fine, Jemma. Really just for-forget it ever happened.” Fitz turns to leave.

“No, Fitz, let me finish! You’re the most important person in my life, and I can’t imagine it without you. I love you, you’ve got to know that.”

“But you’re not in love with me.”

“Oh, Fitz! Please don’t transfer.”

“Just say it. You…you… aren’t in love with me.”

“Maybe I could be. I could try –”

“It doesn’t work like that, Jemma. Do you really think I want…want… you to fall in love with me out of pity?”

“Please, Fitz.”

“I have to get dressed for the goodbye p-p-party Skye’s throwing for me. I’m sorry.” Fitz turns to leave, closing the door behind him.

Jemma stares at the space he has left. “I’m sorry, too.”


	2. The Academy, Part 1

Fitz sits in the front of a crowded briefing room at Sci-Ops. He does not notice Jemma enter through the door and stand at the back wall. It has been two years since he last saw her, on the Bus.

“Welcome, agents, and thank you for coming.” The director in the front of the room stands up to address the company. “You are all here because you have been hand-selected to be a part of a very important mission. As you all know, HYDRA is still incredibly powerful. When they destroyed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, they kidnapped many of our most promising and brainwashed them to be loyal only to HYDRA. Those students, as well as criminal masterminds from all over the world, are currently being educated in the ways of HYDRA at a new Academy located in the Sierra Nevadas. Accessible only by helicopter, the Academy is the epitome of seclusion. There is no way in without an invitation by HYDRA, and no way out without an extraction team.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. needs to send in two undercover agents to do surveillance and recon. HYDRA has an extremely sophisticated lab at the Academy where we assume they are experimenting with a powerful element that they obtained in their overthrow of S.H.I.E.L.D. Many of you may be unfamiliar with this element, so I have invited Agent Simmons to brief us on the basics. Agent Simmons?”

Jemma makes her way to the front of the room to speak. “Gravitonium is a recently discovered element of high atomic number that distorts the force of gravity within itself. First theorized by S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own Dr. Franklin Hall, gravitonium was believed to be nonexistent until a small amount of it was mined from the earth by the company Quinn Worldwide and is now in HYDRAs possession. As gravitonium can be harnessed to manipulate gravitational fields, I hardly need to explain to you the damage that this element can create in the hands of HYDRA.”

“I’ll say.” Fitz doesn’t seem to notice that he has spoken until Jemma looks to him.

“Oh. Agent Fitz.” Jemma doesn’t meet his eyes. “How fortunate that you’re here too. Agent Fitz and I worked a case together that demonstrated to us the magnitude of gravitonium’s powers.”

The director pulls up a holographic image of gravitonium. “If you have anything to add, Agent Fitz, please join Agent Simmons at the Holotable.”

“Um, okay, sir.” Fitz gets out of his seat to stand beside Jemma. “As you can all see, the gravitonium has a distinctly u-undulating, amorphous shape. But when applied with a…a...”

Jemma cuts in. “– an isolated positive charge, changing it from an isotropic to an anisotropic nanostructure, the gravitonium –

“– solidifies, causing the gravity fields within it to…to…”

 “– to erupt randomly, which changes the rules of gravity around the element. With the right design, even a small amount of gravitonium –”

“– could take out a semi-truck, and in large quantities –”

“– it could sink an entire island.”

“Thank you, Fitz…Simmons.” The director reclaims his place in the front of the room while Jemma and Fitz return to their separate places. “It’s been two years since you last worked together, yes? I don’t see why you both shouldn’t be assigned to this mission as our undercover agents. You two certainly make a fine team.”

“Sir, I don’t think –”

“Neither of us are properly qualified to –” The director cuts off their protests.

“Nonsense. HYDRA will be looking for trained operatives. Considering you both look young enough to be at the Academy, I can’t imagine a more perfect assignment. You two have extensive knowledge of the subject, as well as experience in working against HYDRA. Of course, nobody is going to force you to go. You will be completely cut off from S.H.I.E.L.D. until the extraction team comes to collect you. This is an extremely dangerous mission, and it is completely understandable if you –”

“I’ll go.” Fitz steps forward.

“Thank you, Agent Fitz. And you, Agent Simmons?” The director turns to Jemma.

“Well… yes. Yes, of course I’ll go.”

“Excellent! Now for the tactical team…”

_~~_

“A week-long crash-course in field ops and we’re already at the Academy? This entire plan is bullocks.” Fitz whispers furiously to Jemma as they sit in the corner of a Quantum Physics class at the Academy.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Fitz, it’s not like this is our first field mission. Besides, it seems as though everyone here believes our fake identities.”

“That’s another thing. You and me, anarchists?”

“It was the best way for S.H.I.E.L.D. to show off our joined biochemical engineering skills.”

“By detonating a bomb containing a-a-a flesh eating virus on Wall Street?”

“Calm down, Fitz. It’s not like anybody was killed. S.H.I.E.L.D. made sure that everybody was immunized and as for us, well, we’re here. Now let’s try not to mess it up too much, shall we?”

“Oh, because we’ve been such a smashing team of late.”

“Fitz, it’s not my fault that your D.W.A.R.F.s are broken. If you had told me that you had hidden them in your hamper, I wouldn’t have thrown everything in the wash!”

“I can do my own wash, thank you very much.”

“Says the man who has worn that jumper three times this week!”

“I haven’t – This is beside the point. You are the one who asked that we be trained separately for this mission. Did you think you could avoid me all of this time but suddenly become my pal once we got to the Academy?”

“Ah, Mr. Fitz, isn’t it?” The professor looks up from his lecture. “Since you have so much to say to Miss Simmons, maybe you can explain to the class the issue with Goedel’s solution to the field equations of General Relativity?”

“Er…well, Goedel’s solution couldn’t be applied to our universe because he…he –”

“– because Goedel didn’t account for the fact that our universe in a constant state of expansion.” Jemma cannot stop herself from finishing.

“Jemma, I’ve got this.”

“Of course you do, sorry. Old habits.”

Fitz continues, addressing the class. “But that doesn’t rule out the possibility of time travel. Theories exist that cosmic strings or wormholes would make space-time s-s-so warped that one could go back to the past.”

“But a cosmic string would require traveling almost to the speed of light, while to create a wormhole, one must warp space-time in the direction opposite to that in which normal matter warps it.” Jemma speaks, ignoring the flit of annoyance that crosses Fitz’s face.

“True, but that merely requires matter with a negative mass and negative energy density –”

“Which is all completely theoretical at this point –”

“And yet, with gravitonium, we are closer than ever to creating artificial black holes which can emit radiation of anti-particles…” Fitz trails off as he realizes what he has said.

The professor looks at the two of them suspiciously. “And where did a couple of Wall Street anarchists hear about such a thing as gravitonium?”

“He just means that theoretically. Obviously, there’s no proof that gravitonium even exists and quite frankly –”

“Jemma, come off it. Look, professor. It’s not like HYDRA’s been the only organization offering us a position in their ranks, so we looked into you. We know you’ve found gravitonium. It’s why we agreed to join. We know HYDRA has the best resources, and we’d like to put them to use. So instead of enrolling us in these rubbish classes, we were hoping we could get to do some real work in your labs.”

“That’s quite a statement, Mr. Fitz. Unfortunately, the Academy doesn’t work like that. You’re going to have to pass my class before you’re allowed anywhere near Floor Zero.”

Jemma looks up. “I’m sorry, sir. Floor Zero?”

“Yes, yes, Floor Zero is our underground facility where the labs are located, accessible only to Level Twos or above. As you are all Level Ones, I suggest you focus on your papers on String Theory that are due next class. You’re all dismissed.”

As soon as they are safely out of earshot, Jemma rounds on Fitz. “What in the hell were you thinking, bringing up gravitonium? You almost made us in there! I don’t know about you, but I certainly am not interested in finding out what HYDRA does to double agents.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Jemma. I was trying to not look like an idiot next to you as you prattled on about… about… _closed timelike curves_."

“I was just trying to help –”

“I don’t need your help. I’ve managed p-p-perfectly fine on my own for the past two years.”

“Fitz, this mission is about more than some petty feelings between you and me. If we fail, HYDRA will destroy the world with the gravitonium!”

“Gee, thanks for that ever-so-helpful reminder. As if I-I-I didn’t already realize how important this mission is.”

“Look, I know being assigned here together is less than ideal, but that doesn’t change the fact that we have a job to do. So how about we focus on how to get down to Floor Zero. Okay?”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not going to even pretend that I understood any of the science in this chapter, so please tell me if I'm totally wrong about it. I unabashedly stole a bunch from Stephen Hawking's 'Space and Time Warps', which was surprisingly legible for a girl who hasn't taken a science class since high school physics. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the Fitzsimmons friction! Stay tuned for the next chapter!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Thanks so much for reading! This is my first fanfiction, so please R&R. I'm taking a class in playwriting next semester so I'm sorry if this fic is very dialogue heavy. I adore Fitzsimmons, but I also wanted to explore the idea that Jemma is very unsure of her feelings, so I'm not entirely sure where this will go for the two of them...


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